Are we there yet?

I feel like the annoying child in the back seat during the long summer vacation driving cross country. "Are we there yet?" " NO!" "When are we going to get there?" "NEVER IF YOU KEEP IT UP!" At this point it is just a matter of waiting. I still need to pack, go to the bank, pick up perscriptions, pick out some small gifts to arrive with, a token for my host, and so much more I've yet to realize is still undone. I haven't even considered the chaos I'm leaving behind and should probably make preparations for a month away from the house. Surely they can care for themselves but the maternal side (more of the control freak) is beginning to rear it's ugly head: bedtime is 10:00 not whenever Joey feels like it, don't clean it like that - do it this way, those clothes do not match and you are not leaving the house looking like that, don't forget the trash, brush your teeth, maybe you could have a meal that isn't out of a paper bag tonight, is it possible the dirty clothes could make it another foot into the hamper, your eyes are going to fall out of your head if you spend one more minute infront of that tv, there is no maid in this house so PLEASE pick up after yourself, enough of the video games! My mother will be gone the first week of November as well. I hope the house is still standing when she returns.

Just to answer a few general questions:

Total time in flight: 17hrs. 45 min.
Time difference: +10.5 hrs
Average daily temp: 87 F
Humidity: 83%
Language: Hindi
Currency: rupee
Conversion rate: 1 rupee = 2 cents

Prayer Partners

And Jesus answered and said to them, "Truly I say to you, if you have faith, and do not doubt, you shall not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, 'Be taken up and cast into the sea,' it shall happen. And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive."

Matthew 21: 21-22

India or Bust

9 days - It finally became very real to me that it's time to start packing. I haven't done too much looking online not wanting to have preconceived ideas of what it will be like. (In all honesty it is probably best that I stay a bit ignorant. As I was talking with Dick Miller last week he laughed, with me not at me, and reminded me of my stellar camping skills and how adept I am at roughing it. As if I wasn't apprehensive enough!) Leslie once referred to me as fearless - I could use a bit of that bravado now.

But I'm excited, and nervous, the anticipation is beginning to get the best of me. The organized planner in me is wanting to consider ever bump ahead. But I think I'll sit back and let someone else be in control. (Yes I said it, it's in print and I can't take it back.) Just maneuvering the time zones, layovers and transport issues is daunting. I can't begin to think about what I'll need just to get through each day. I asked the project host Rajan if there was anything I could bring for him and the other workers or something special the kids would appreciate. He asked the girls at the Noida orphanage what gift I could bring them and they asked for colored pencils. Colored pencils. The financial strength of the dollar in India is such that most purchases would be better made in country. But they want colored pencils so I will be certain to arrive with a box for each child. (I am bringing only one carry on due to the numerous layovers and transportation issues on site so please DO NOT send me colored pencils!) What a request. The simplicity of it was overwhelming as I looked around my desk at the scratch pads covered with train times, bus schedules, airline routes and layover times. If everything to come would be as simple as a few boxes of lead.

God has continued to provide financially as the costs arise and He has faithfully shown up to calm my nerves. So thank you to those who have supported me, prayed for me and encouraged me to step so far outside my comfort zone.

In His Time

In His time, He makes all things beautiful, in His time. Lord, please show me everyday, as You're teaching me Your way, that You do just what You say, in Your time.

Lyrics by Diana Ball

What does the worker gain from his toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on men. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil—this is the gift of God. I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him.

Ecclesiastes 3: 9-14

Jag Shanti Udayan Ghar, a small orphanage located in the suburb of Nodia on the outskirts of Delhi, is home to 35 children who have been abandoned by their families. Mrs. Kiran Modi, cares for them daily and will be hosting me during my visit next month. The following is the typical 6 day-a-week schedule:

7:00 Wake up - Tea

8:00 - 9:00 Breakfast: help with preparation and feeding & basic hygiene

9:00 - 2:00 School: walk to school, English lessons

2:00 - 3:00 Lunch

3:00 - 4:00 Playtime: cultural exchange, games, arts & crafts

4:00 - 7:00 Assist teachers /computers, tutoring & homework

7:00 - 8:00 Dinner: cooking and cleaning

8:00 Sleep

These girls are learning not only household skills but are being given an education; an advantage not every child, specifically females, are afforded in Indian society. While Mrs. Modi can care for only a few on a daily basis, the orphanage is widely recognized for its work in the child welfare sector due to its continued outreach to those children unable to be housed within its walls.

The more I learn the more daunting the task seems. I have no idea how to prepare. A few months ago my friend Leslie left for the Ukraine to minister to the orphans there. She did little research and left very much unaware of what to expect. She later said she was glad that she had not been influenced prior to her visit - it allowed her to simple sit back and take everything in. Years ago I visited Haiti and still remember the all-encompassing poverty. I can still smell the decay, feel the dust and dirt and I know that it is worse today than it was 20 years ago when I was there. I wonder if I would be better off not having any expectations of what is to come or if the knowledge of just how destitute the people are will make the transition smoother and keep the shock at bay.

Maybe it is providential that India has not quite made it into the super computer age. (A google of Nodia, India produces very little. As an obsessive planner, it is killing me to have so little control!)